F. Hockey wins another 1-0 game

A consistent pattern has developed. For the third consecutive game, the Penn field hockey team shut out its opponent. For the third consecutive game, the Quakers scored one goal. This time it was Ursinus that fell victim to a powerful Penn team which completely dominated the action en route to a 1-0 victory in its road opener on the Collegeville grass. Yesterday's game-winning goal came with only five minutes remaining in the contest. It is only fitting that for the second game in a row it came off a penalty corner. Under difficult field conditions, junior Amy Pine blasted a shot past a helpless Bear goalie to notch her fifth goal of the season and propel the Quakers (5-1) to yet another win. "Mandy hit the ball to Sue Quinn and we had no stick stops because it was on grass," junior Rani Bajwa said. "Sue Quinn stopped the ball and passed it over to Amy and Amy slammed it into the back of the cage. It was essentially a give-and-go at the top of the circle. It was pretty." So was the Penn defense. The Quakers' communication on the defensive side of the field has drastically improved over the past few games. Penn is stifling all of its opponents' opportunities inside the Quaker zone and dominated Ursinus (2-6-1) to the point where the Penn defense was never severely threatened. The back wall has stepped up exactly when the rest of the team has needed it most. Allowing only four goals in six games, the stingy defense has carried the Quakers. "On defense, it gives us a lot more confidence," Penn goalie junior Suzy Pures said. "I don't even know if the field players realize it, but three shutouts in a row – four this season – says a lot about the way the defense has been playing. It's a whole defensive effort. Everybody out there deserves credit." A new ingredient which arose in yesterday's contest was the grass. For the first time this year the Quakers played on a surface other than the Franklin Field turf. Unfortunately, due to sloppy conditions the grass played a critical role in determining the game's outcome. It made handling the ball difficult and sending long passes even harder. "I'm sure the grass was a factor," Pures said. "We only had one practice on the grass before the game, so that made it tough. The ball was hopping and the whole part of one side was just mud. Even the circle got really muddy." The mud also slowed down the Penn offense. The attack still continued to fail to score on several opportunities deep in the Ursinus zone. Posting only three goals in the last three games, scoring is becoming an increasing concern for the Quakers. Penn continues to dominate games but the recent string of 1-0 wins is not indicative of the team's solid performance. "I just really think that we have to jump on the ball," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "In the offensive circle we have to put more balls in. When you're controlling a game you don't want to get caught in that fastbreak situation." Consistently controlling the game has been the Quakers' strong point. The team is now working together and passing the ball much quicker. The players are beginning to know where to find their teammates and Penn is continuing to build upon last year's success. "The team as a whole felt that we controlled the ball the whole game," Bajwa said. "I think we went out with a renewed attitude. In the last few games we've been playing tentatively – in a sense, playing not to lose instead of playing to win. The attitude was to go out and have fun and that's what we did. It was very relaxed the whole game." This relaxed attitude will certainly help to take some of the pressure off the Quaker defense. If the offense is looser, it should lead to more goals which in turn will make the defense's job easier. Despite the low-scoring output so far, it can not be forgotten that the Quakers have still won five out of six games and should soon break into the national rankings. "It doesn't feel like we're 5-1," Pures said. "We're not getting in over our heads. We're not getting cocky. We haven't been playing as well as we can. But today was a much better effort especially considering the conditions." The victory was a key one for Penn. The Quakers were much more satisfied with the overall performance and are hoping to carry this momentum into the remaining Ivy schedule. This will be crucial if the Penn offense hopes to put everything together and starts to click when opponents like Princeton and No. 1 Penn State soon appear on the Quaker schedule. "This game I don't think many of us felt frustrated with the 1-0 win," Bajwa said. "We just need to take it game by game. It's hard because we're coming off a season where we have a lot of expectations. The pressure's on us. Last season we had nothing to lose. I think we need to regain that attitude." Yesterday's victory should help the Quakers do just that.

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